| Abstract: | In a previous paper I laid the foundations of a covariant Hamiltonian framework for the calculus of variations in general. The purpose of the present work is to demonstrate, in the context of classical field theory, how this covariant Hamiltonian formalism may be space + time decomposed. It turns out that the resulting “instantaneous” Hamiltonian formalism is an infinite- dimensional version of Ostrogradski
's theory and leads to the standard symplectic formulation of the initial value problem. The salient features of the analysis are: (i) the instantaneous Hamiltonian formalism does not depend upon the choice of Lepagean equivalent; (ii) the space + time decomposition can be performed either before or after the covariant Legendre transformation has been carried out, with equivalent results; (iii) the instantaneous Hamiltonian can be recovered in natural way from the multisymplectic structure inherent in the theory; and (iv) the space + time split symplectic structure lives on the space of Cauchy data for the evolution equations, as opposed to the space of solutions thereof. |
